The area, which is on the southwest shore of San Francisco Bay, was settled in 1852 as a stagecoach station. By the early 1900s, it was a shipping point for fruit and grain, as well as a center of religious book publishing.[12]

It was first known as the major center of Fremont Twp. before the first California 1852 census, for Santa Clara County. [Fremont township is bounded on the north by San Mateo county and a portion of the bay of San Francisco; on the east by Alviso and Santa Clara townships; on the south by Redwood township, and on the west by San Mateo county.] Which meant that it was a predecessor to Mayfield and Palo Alto. Mountain View Station, officially named in 1864, had its beginnings earlier as a stagecoach stop on the route between San Francisco and San Jose, including the Butterfield Overland Mail. Incorporated on November 7, 1902. Phyllis Ave. & El Camino Real of today, was closer to what was once the original town center and its then San Jose Road. The early pioneers were commonly buried at the old cemetery between Mercy & Church, off Castro Street, now the present city Library and park, aka Pioneer Park. Reverend Henry Merrill Henderson, born in Maryland, age 35, arrived in Spring of 1852, with his family to meet with relatives Ricketts and many others from Missouri and Kentucky. He was the first Baptist minister in town and soon was going by horse to Half-Moon Bay, and McCartersville (Saratoga) for services. His next-door neighbor arrived later that year, Seligman Weilheimer and brother Samuel from Dossenheim, Baden, Germany, who built at that property, the first big general merchandise store in 1856. The Fremont twp. population was about 560 by 1860, less Mayfield Post office section, which began north of present San Antonio Road. The town's early growth was due to agriculture, William Bubb later being a town figure, buying 80 acres to farm in October 1851, where he died in 1864. His heirs expanded and intermarried in the area. Agriculture remained the primary industry into the middle of the 20th century. The U.S. Navy's adjacent 1000 acre Moffett Field Complex began after 1931 and brought many economic opportunities . After World War II, the population grew significantly with the development of the aerospace and electronics industries.[13] Between 1950 and 1960, the population grew from 6,563 to 30,889, an increase of 370.7%.

Between 1929 and 1994, the city was the home of the Moffett Field Naval Air Station. In 1940, the city became the home of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (now the NASA Ames Research Center), influencing the city's development of its aerospace and electronics industries.[12]

Today, high technology is the foundation of the local economy, and there exist few remnants of the city's agricultural past. In 1990, Kevin Duggan began his position as city manager. He built a relationship with Google, Inc., and issued a long-term lease to that and other technology companies. As of 2014, those leases generate over $5 million per year in city revenue. Duggan reinstituted a special tax district for the Shoreline area, which was a landfill and pig farm in 1990. That money allowed the city to create a large park and golf course on the site. The Castro Street downtown area also benefited from a special tax district.[14]

Most of Mountain View consists of residential neighborhoods. Business parks are located mostly in the North Shoreline neighborhood, north of Highway 101, and east of Highway 85.

Climate

Mountain View has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classificationCsb: dry-summer subtropical).[17] Summers are warm and dry, while winters are mild and wet. However, both summers and winters are somewhat moderated due to its relative proximity to the Pacific, although it has a lesser maritime influence than San Francisco further north on the peninsula.

Economy

Google, whose headquarters are located in Mountain View, is also the largest employer of the city's residents.

Mountain View is one of the major cities that make up Silicon Valley, and has many notable Silicon Valley companies either headquartered there or with a large presence. As of 2018, major tech companies such as Google[19] and Mozilla were headquartered in Mountain View.[20] In 2018, the comparison site CareerBliss ranked the city number 1 in the United States on its list of Happiest Cities to Work for 2018.[21]

After voting to increase the minimum wage incrementally in 2015, in December 2017, the Mountain View City Council implemented a mandatory $15 minimum wage, to apply to employees who work two or more hours a week.[22] At the start of 2018, Mountain View raised its minimum wage to $15.00.[23] Starting on January 1, 2019, the minimum wage will be "adjusted annually based on the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose regional Consumer Price Index."[22] A proposal to slow down the rate of the wage increases by a year[24][25] was defeated in a City Council meeting on December 4, 2018.[26] Subsequently, January 1, 2019, Mountain View's minimum wage becomes $15.65, with the increase delayed for very small companies.[27]

Top employers

According to the City's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[28] the main employers in the city are:

Economic past

Due to its history as a center for semiconductor manufacturing, Mountain View has seven sites on the Environmental Protection Agency's Final National Priorities List (NPL), a list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial action financed under the federal Superfund program. The sites were formerly used by companies including Fairchild Semiconductor, Intel, Raytheon, Spectra-Physics, Jasco Chemical, GTE and Teledyne. These seven sites make up a portion of the 22 NPL sites in Santa Clara County, which are included in the total of 94 sites in California.[29]

Demographics

2010-2018

The 2010 United States Census[11] reported that Mountain View had a population of 74,066. The population density was 6,034.8 people per square mile (2,330.0/km2).[11] The census reported that 73,801 people (99.6% of the population) lived in households, 145 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 120 (0.2%) were institutionalized.[11] There were 31,957 households, out of which 8,731 (27.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 13,806 (43.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,456 (7.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,253 (3.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,928 (6.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 280 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 10,961 households (34.3%) were made up of individuals and 2,471 (7.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31. There were 17,515 families (54.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.01.[11] The population was spread out with 14,594 people (19.7%) under the age of 18, 5,401 people (7.3%) aged 18 to 24, 28,577 people (38.6%) aged 25 to 44, 17,647 people (23.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 7,846 people (10.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.5 males.[11] There were 33,881 housing units at an average density of 2,760.6 per square mile (1,065.9/km2), of which 13,332 (41.7%) were owner-occupied, and 18,625 (58.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.4%. 32,002 people (43.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 41,799 people (56.4%) lived in rental housing units.[11]

As of 2013, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mountain View had an unemployment rate of 5%.[31] It had a female population of 49.1 percent and a male population of 50.9 percent. Persons under five were 7.1 percent, persons under 18 were 19.7 percent, and persons age 65 and older were 10.6 percent.[31] In 2016, 8.7 percent of people in Mountain View were living below the poverty line. Of the citizens over the age of sixteen, 64.3 percent were employed in the labor force, while 26.2 percent were not.[32]

According to the Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey, the number of homeless individuals in Mountain View increased 51% from 2015 to 2017, with 276 homeless individuals in 2015, and 416 in 2017.[33] In August 2017, the Mercury News reported that Mountain View had seen RVs and recreational vehicles become the choice of residence for many working poor in the city. The city's communications coordinator called it a "new" situation, noting that many of the residents living in RVs were working up to three jobs, and that affordable housing was hard to come by in the city.[33] In December 2017, Google received approval to build nearly 10,000 new units of housing near its future campus in the city.[19]

There were 31,242 households out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.1% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.97.[36]

In the city, the population was spread out with 18.0% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 43.4% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.9 males.[36]

According to a 2007 estimate the median income for a household in the city was $82,648, and the median income for a family was $105,079.[37] Males had a median income of $64,585 versus $44,358 for females. The per capita income for the city was $39,693. About 3.6% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.2% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Mountain View City Hall

Mountain View Fire Station Number 1

Mountain View has a council-manager government system. An executive city manager is in charge of several departments, while the city council, supported by several boards, commissions, and committees, is the legislature responsible for the ordinances of the city code. The executive in turn enforces the code and promulgates administrative regulations to execute it. The city clerk and attorney perform supporting roles. The Community Development Department is the agency responsible for planning and zoning.[38]

Mountain View taxed a large portion of its most valuable commercial and industrial properties in the Shoreline Regional Park Community at very low relative levels, and until the creation of a joint-powers agreement (JPA) in 2006, none of those property taxes reached the local schools. After the creation of the JPA, the Shoreline Regional Park Community shared less than $1 million per year with the elementary and high school districts.[51][52]

A citizen-supported parcel tax, largely aimed at reducing class sizes, was recently renewed with an overwhelming positive vote.[53] The current ratio of students to full-time-equivalent teachers in the Mountain View public elementary schools is 20.4 to one.[54]

Library

Library exterior and sign

Mountain View has one central public library, the Mountain View Public Library, which has video, music, books, and access to the Internet. During the 2006-2007 fiscal year, 810,589 customers visited the library. Circulation was more than 1.4 million, 105,870 reference and information questions were answered, 36,693 children listened to stories and participated in children's programs. The library hosts the Mountain View Reads Together program. Also during that time, 27,342 new books and media items were added to the collection, which includes holdings of 300,000, including 210,000 books and 423 periodical subscriptions. The library also provides outreach services through the bookmobile and S.O.S. volunteer program to those in Mountain View, who are unable to come to the main branch. The building was built in 1997. The second floor of the library has a special collection in a room devoted to the history of Mountain View, which features a portrait of Crisanto Castro, for whom the major downtown thoroughfare is named.[55] Outside the library one can find a piece of the torn-down Berlin Wall on display.[56]

Utilities

On August 16, 2006, after over a year of test deployments, Google announced that its implementation of free IEEE 802.11g wireless service for all of the City was fully operational.[59]

On February 19, 2014, the City of Mountain View and Google announced a new connectivity plan for residents, to replace the existing system. Service will be available along the downtown corridor of Mountain View, primarily on Castro Street. Other areas to be covered include Rengstorff Park, the Mountain View Public Library, Senior, Community, and Teen Centers.[60]

Four blocks with a concentration of restaurants, cafes, and shops extend south from the downtown station. Chez TJ, one of the few restaurants rated by the Michelin Guide in the Bay Area, is located a block from Castro Street on Villa Street. Tied House, located next door, was one of the first brewpubs in the Bay Area, and is a popular stop in downtown.

Sidewalk along Castro Street in downtown Mountain View

The core of downtown is the plaza shared by City Hall, the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (MVCPA) and the Mountain View Public Library. The plaza is used for many community gatherings and events, and features a collection of public art. Peninsula Youth Theatre and TheatreWorks are among the home companies of the MVCPA.[61] The City Hall and MVCPA complex, designed by William Turnbull of San Francisco, opened in 1991.[62] Behind those buildings is Pioneer Park, formerly the site of Mountain View's first cemetery.[63]

The Mountain View Police Department is located two blocks away from Castro Street on Villa Street.[64]

Since 1971, the city has held the annual Mountain View Art & Wine Festival on Castro Street by closing down the street to traffic for two days. There is a farmers' market in the Caltrain parking lot every Sunday morning. Every summer, once a month, the city celebrates Thursday Night Live by closing off Castro street to cars and providing live music events and car shows on Castro Street.

The entire length of El Camino in Mountain View is a low-density commercial area.[citation needed]

Stevens Creek runs through Mountain View from the south and empties into the Bay in Shoreline Park. A paved pedestrian and bicycle path, the Stevens Creek Trail, runs alongside the creek for nearly its entire distance in Mountain View.

Other parks include:

Eagle Park, which holds a public swimming pool, dog-friendly lawn, and World War II war memorial

Cuesta Park, a sprawling park with tennis courts, barbecue areas, and playgrounds, near El Camino Hospital and the YMCA

Rengstorff Park, home to a public swimming pool, community center, skate park, fenced dog park, and multiple playgrounds and picnic areas

Charleston Park, a five-acre park located near the Googleplex. The park was designed by SWA Group who received an ASLA Centennial Medallion in 1999 for their work.[65]